Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk has been named Time 2021 Person of the Year.
Time gave Musk the award for his “dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable.” The magazine also honors vaccine scientists who tackled COVID-19 as their heroes of the year. Simone Biles was named athlete of the year.
“The richest man in the world does not own a house and has recently been selling off his fortune,” Time writes in tribute. “He tosses satellites into orbit and harnesses the sun; he drives a car he created that uses no gas and barely needs a driver. With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons.”
Time’s profile notes Musk’s madcap social media presence, but argues he is a genuinely larger-than-life figure whose presence in various emerging technologies, coupled with a year of wins for Tesla and SpaceX, make him worthy of the award.
Born in South Africa in 1971 to a family that made its money in mining, Musk moved to the US and was a key player in PayPal’s rise. In 2002 he founded SpaceX and a few years later was an early investor in electric car company Tesla, which he now runs.
Other projects include Neuralink, the Boring Company and SolarCity. He’s also known for his, shall we say, provocative tweets on everything from cryptocurrency to his relationship with pop singer Grimes. “But you know, not all jokes land,” Musk admits to Time.
Last year saw Joe Biden and Kamala Harris jointly named Person of the Year. Musk joins the ranks of cover-story Persons including Charles Lindbergh, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolph Hitler, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, the American soldier, Queen Elizabeth II, Mark Zuckerberg and Greta Thunberg.
(CNet)
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